ROMANS
CHAPTER 8
Law of Christ brings life and peace—Those adopted as sons of God become joint-heirs with Christ—God’s elect are foreordained to eternal life—Christ makes intercession for man.
1 THERE is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, [ This is a little bit of a rebuke to those Jewish Christians. There is no condemnation to those Gentile Christians who aren't following the law because it was not theirs in the first place. ] who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
[ The theme of chapter 8 is, How does the Spirit then empower our lives? Paul is trying to be methodical in taking them along the journey. To do that he is trying to anticipate their questions, what are the people going to ask when they're reading this epistle. At the end will they ask "Okay, so what am I supposed to do now? If I'm not supposed to follow the law, what is the expectation that I'm supposed to have?" And so, here comes chapter 8. And again, these divisions are arbitrary. They weren't in the original manuscripts, so this is just a continuation of the thought. ]
2 For the law of the Spirit [ The word here is pneuma in Greek, which is the same word that we see in the Old Testament for the spirit that was over the earth during creation. And so, tying that back to the spirit of life, the breath of life that God gives to Adam and Eve when they're created, that's the very essence of life. It's supposed to be directed by the Spirit. The idea that the breath of life that was given to Adam and Eve in the creation was supposed to dictate their lives. This usage reminds me of President Nelson's statement. "In a coming day, it will be impossible to survive spiritually without the guiding and directing help of the Spirit." So what Paul is trying to say here is, "Now, the expectation is that you are to live by the Spirit. And there are laws that the Spirit is going to dictate to you. sometimes it's just going to be you and the Spirit that knows what that law looks like, but it's going to be there and you need to follow it." And so, we need to be empowered to live according to the Spirit, and the Spirit is what's going to guide and direct us. ] of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin [ Which is what? That no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of God and the sin makes us unclean. ] and death.
3 For what the law could not do, [ pardon us from sin, there was in other words no other way than Heavenly Father sending his sona s aeternal sacrifice for sin. ] in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: [ How did the Lord comdemn sin? 1) he taught that we should svoid it 2) he overcame ( or condemned the power of sin ) it through the atonement. ]
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, [ That the power of the atonement might be in force in our life. What does that take? We will see going forward here. ] who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they [ Who decides here? we do; it is by our choice. ] that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; [ So to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life eternal. Paul is trying to get these Jewish Christian and Gentile Christians to understand, is you need to be spiritually minded. You need to have your eye set on the glory of God rather than focusing just on worldly and temporal things. How is this statement true? Without the direction in life of the spirit you will not be fulfilled. We are spiritual beings first living in a carnal world. We will return to spiritual beings again after mortality. This passage, as much as any other, has given rise to the idea that Paul viewed the physical body as an inherently evil thing. This is unfortunate, for a careful reading of Paul’s language leads to another conclusion.
Our English word carnal is a derivative of the Latin carnalis, meaning “the flesh” or “the body.” Ironically enough, there is no separate word for carnal in the Greek. What we have here is the adjectival form of the Greek noun meaning “flesh.” So in verse 6 of this passage, where the King James Version translates it “carnally minded,” literally the Greek reads “the mind of the flesh.”
A close examination of Paul’s use of the term flesh makes it clear that he does not see it as an inherently evil thing. Perhaps the greatest insight into Paul’s idea of the flesh is given in Galatians 5:13 where he employs an interesting Greek term in reference to the flesh. The word he chooses is aphormay, which the King James Version translates as occasion. This was a military word in classical Greek and was used to describe the point from which a commander launched an attack upon the enemy. Literally, then, it should be translated as bridgehead or base of operations. This is an appropriate metaphor, since the needs of our bodies often become the vulnerable base of operations. How many souls have been won by Satan as they surrendered to bodily appetites? How many eternal lives have been lost because they were not spiritually minded but, rather, were dominated by “the mind of the flesh”? ] but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: [ The natural man is an enemy to God” because it hurts God's children. EN'MITY ~ The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence. It expresses more than aversion and less than malice, and differs from displeasure in denoting a fixed or rooted hatred, whereas displeasure is more transient. ~ the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. - or more literally the Greek reads “the mind of the flesh.” Why? answer follows here. 1) because it is not submissive to the will of God 2) because it is unto itself; it makes it s own rules as such it will never become submissive to God's will unless it changes. ] for it is not subject to the law of God, [ Maybe a better way to say this is it is in rebellion to God. Just as Satan was in the war in heaven. Or it does not care about what God wants and his laws; it makes laws unto itself. ] neither indeed can be.
8 so then they that are in the flesh [ Or of the mind of the flesh. ] cannot please God. [ Why? because they will not submit to Gods will. They will not be inclinded to repent and follow him. We know that if we do not repent and accept the Savior then he cannot save us; neither will we be able to return and live with him which is what he wants for us - this is what will please him. ]
9 But ye are not in the flesh, [ Who is he talking to here? Those that have the gospel. How are they not in the flesh? because they have choosen to live a higher law - to submit their will to the will and laws of God. ] but in the Spirit, [ So if we are acting outside of that spirit, we're not acting for Christ. He is trying to make a contrast for us. You're holy ones. You're set apart. You're saints. But in the spirit, and if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. The difference between living without the spirit to guide us and living with the spirit in our lives. ] if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
[ The emphasis is that we need to be those who seek to welcome the spirit and to especially welcome the Savior into our lives. And what are his great commandments? Love God, love our neighbor. And that's what overcomes this carnality that is evident in all of us. ]
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: [ye shall afterwards die, and this seems to indicate a temporal death ] but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
[ These are those whom he will later refer to as the remnant. Those who follow the spirit, they are not the masses. You have to choose to be part by yielding to the spirit of God. ]
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage [ The Gentiles an the Jews were in a state of bondage in that they had a multitude of burdensome rites and ceremonies, and a multitude of deities to worship; nor could they believe themselves secure of protection while one of their almost endless host of gods, celestial, terrestrial, or infernal, was left taken care of. ] again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, [ Adoption was an act frequent among the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans; by which a person was taken out of one family and incorporated with another. Persons of property, who had no children of their own, adopted those of another family. The child thus adopted ceased to belong to his own family, and was in every respect bound to the person who had adopted him, as if he were his own child; and in consequence of the death of his adopting father he possessed his estates. If a person after he had adopted a child happened to have children of his own, then the estate was equally divided between the adopted and real children. The Romans had regular forms of law, by which all these matters were settled. ] whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs
with Christ; [ As opposed to Tenants-in- Common which means that they would share a specified proportion of ownership rights in real property and upon the death of a tenant in common, that share is transferred to the estate of the deceased tenant. But here it reads joint-heirs - This is a very expressive term.
It is chosen for particular reasons, to convey the exact and precise
thought that is involved. I, for instance, with my wife, own a home,
and the deed to that home says that the property was conveyed to Bruce
R. McConkie and Amelia S. McConkie, his wife, as joint tenants and not
as tenants in common. This is legal language that is chosen in order
to convey the concept that each one of us inherits and possesses and
owns and has the totality of all the property, that all of it is vested
in both of us. If one or the other of us passes away, the other automatically
owns the entire property. It is not divisable. We are joint tenants.
That is what a joint-heir is; he inherits everything that the other heirs
inherit. There is not a division so that one gets this and someone else
gets another thing. All of them get the totality of the whole. Bruce
R. McConkie April Ensign 1971 ] if
so be that we suffer with him, that
we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate dto be conformed to the image of his son, [ that is, those in the premortal world who elected
to become Gods elected also to come to earth and learn the work of
redemption in apprenticeship to the Lord Jesus Christ, a work that
would qualify them to live with the Gods in the eternal worlds.You
see that even at that time we wanted to be like our Father in Heaven
so bad that were where starting to be like him already. Our desire
to became to bless the other intelligences just like our Father.
THAT WAS THE PLAN the greater lights would bless the lesser lights.
He knew that we would all progress at different rates and that was
OK but we would all be eternal... READ Abraham 3:18
Did Paul Believe in Predestination? Could also be translated foreordain or appoint. In fact, the Greek word from which the King James translators chose the word predestinate has a variety of meanings. The emphasis in the Greek suggests the foreknowledge of God, but not in an ultimate determination of all things excluding man's agency. For this reason many Bible revisions and newer translations replace the word predestinate with words such as foreordain or appoint. The dictionary defines predestination as determining beforehand one’s state, condition, and actions in life by divine decree. There is no room for free agency. Latter-day Saints are sometimes disturbed to find Paul using the word predestination in his letter. There are three factors that help us to understand Paul’s meaning.
First, there is nothing in the original Greek word, which the King James Version chose to translate as predestinate, which implies a loss of free agency. It is a compound word formed from the prefix pro, meaning “before,” and the verb horizo, meaning “to define.” The verb itself was derived from horos, a boundary. (Our English horizon comes from this verb.) Literally, the word means “to determine beforehand, or decide beforehand.” some modern biblical translations use the word foreordain to translate prohoridzo.
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith wrote the following:
“Just what Paul might have had in mind may not be too clearly expressed in the translation that has come to us. That he taught that some men are destined to be damned must be rejected; likewise that some were predestined to be saved without a trial of their faith. Those who rejected the truth and rebelled were cast out with Lucifer because of the great gift of free agency.
“We have reason to believe that all who were privileged to come to this mortal world came because they were entitled by pre-mortal qualifications. It is absurd to think that Paul would teach that in the beginning before the earth was formed, some souls were destined to come to earth, receive tabernacles and then be consigned to perdition and some to be saved. Such a doctrine is contrary to all that has been revealed.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:153.)] that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: [ That is, to justify means to ratify, approve, confirm, or give authorized sanction of an action. All actions relative to the gospel, such as repentance, baptism, temple marriage, etc., must be justified through the Holy Ghost or they are not enforce after this life is over. The Lord has stated: "All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power . . . are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead" (D & C 132:7). Therefore when an action is "sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise" it is approved or ratified by the Holy Ghost as being legitimate.
In General Conference, Elder Bruce R. McConkie, gave the following instruction regarding justification:
"Now, to justify is to seal, or to ratify, or to approve; and it is very evident from these revelations that every act that we do, if it is to have binding and sealing virtue in eternity, must be justified by the Spirit. In other words, it must be ratified by the Holy Ghost; or in other words, it must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.
"All of us know that we can deceive men. We can deceive our bishops or the other Church agents, unless at the moment their minds are lighted by the spirit of revelation; but we cannot deceive the Lord. We cannot get from him an unearned blessing. There will be an eventual day when all men will get exactly and precisely what they have merited and earned, neither adding to nor subtracting from. You cannot with success lie to the Holy Ghost.
"Now let us take a simple illustration. If an individual is to gain an inheritance in the celestial world, he has to enter in at the gate of baptism, that ordinance being performed under the hands of a legal administrator. If he comes forward prepared by worthiness, that is, if he is just and true, and gains baptism under the hands of a legal administrator, he is justified by the Spirit in the act which has been performed; that is, it is ratified by the Holy Ghost, or it is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise. As a result it is of full force and validity in this life and in the life to come.
"If an individual thereafter turns from righteousness and goes off and wallows in the mire of iniquity, then the seal is removed, and so we have this principle which keeps the unworthy from gaining unearned blessings. The Lord has placed a bar which stops the progress of the unrighteous; he has placed a requirement which we must meet. We must gain the approval and receive the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost if eventually and in eternity we are to reap the blessings that we hope to reap.
"The same thing that is true of baptism is true of marriage. If a couple comes forward worthily, a couple who is just and true, and they enter into that ordinance under the hands of a legal administrator, a seal of approval is recorded in heaven. Then assuming they do not thereafter break that seal, assuming they keep the covenant and press forward in steadfastness and in righteousness, they go on in the next world as husband and wife; and in and after the resurrection, that ordinance performed in such a binding manner here has full force, efficacy, and validity." (Conference Report, April 1956, p.65) ] and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can abe against us?
32 He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.